Ning, X; Zhai, F; Xia, N and Hu, X (2024) Protecting the ego: Anticipated image risk as a psychological deterrent to construction workers' safety citizenship behavior. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 150(1): 04023146, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Accidents and injuries plague the construction industry worldwide. It has been shown that frontline workers' safety citizenship behavior plays a key role in preventing accidents and improving workplace safety. In this study, we consider anticipated image risk, defined as an individual's belief that one action might harm how they are seen by others, as a psychological obstacle to safety citizenship behavior. Drawing on social identity theory and psychological defense mechanism, we propose that anticipated image risk can reduce the felt safety responsibility and sense of belonging of workers and thus reduce safety citizenship behavior. This effect is strongest among individuals who are low on proactive personality. Using data from 339 construction workers, we tested our proposed conceptual model in the construction context. As expected, felt safety responsibility and sense of belonging mediated the negative effect of anticipated image risk on safety citizenship behavior. Workers with a proactive personality were less susceptible to the negative effect of anticipated image risk. The findings extend the safety citizenship behavior literature by introducing a psychological barrier, a self-defense mechanism, and a moderator to explain the process. This study also enriches the current theoretical perspectives by applying social identity theory to explore the emergence of construction workers' safety citizenship behavior.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | anticipated image risk; proactive personality; safety citizenship behavior; self-defense; social identity theory |
| Index terms: | frontline worker, emergence, drawing, workplace safety, injury, construction worker, construction industry, social identity theory, personality |
| Subjects: | behavioral psychology, systems engineering, occupational health, industry analysis, health conditions and diseases, social psychology, technical documentation, practitioner |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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